2015 (Full Year) Germany: Best-Selling Car Brands

In 2015, new passenger vehicle registrations in Germany increased by 5.6% with Volkswagen, Mercedes, Audi, BMW and Opel the top-selling car brands. Car sales increased to 3,206,042 vehicles – the highest total since 2009 and the second consecutive year that Europe’s largest single-country market exceeded three million cars. None of the top-ten best-selling car brands in Germany sold fewer cars in 2015 but most underperformed the broader market and thus lost some market share.

German New Car Market in 2015 (Full Year)

New passenger vehicle (PKW) registrations increased in 2015 by 5.6% to 3,206,042 cars. This followed a 3% increase in car sales in Germany in 2014 and the second consecutive year that the German new car market exceeded three million cars.

Total new vehicle registrations in Germany in 2015 increase by 5.4% to 3,742,552 vehicles including motorbikes, cars (PKW), buses, heavy (LKW) and agricultural vehicles.

According to the VDA, 5,739,900 (+2%) were produced in Germany of which 4,411,400 (+3%) were exported.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Germany in 2015

The top-selling car marques and manufacturers in Germany in 2014 according to new passenger vehicle registration data figures released by the KBA were:

Brand

2015 (Full Year)

Sales 2014

% Share

% Change

Total Market

3,206,042

3,036,773

100

5.6

1

VW

685,669

656,494

21.4

4.4

2

Mercedes

286,883

272,566

8.9

5.3

3

Audi

269,047

259,459

8.4

3.7

4

BMW

248,565

238,253

7.8

4.3

5

Opel

229,352

219,084

7.2

4.7

6

Ford

224,579

209,131

7

7.4

7

Skoda

179,951

173,583

5.6

3.7

8

Renault

110,039

105,322

3.4

4.5

9

Hyundai

108,434

99,820

3.4

8.6

10

Seat

94,673

93,129

3

1.7

11

Fiat

70,719

68,103

2.2

3.8

12

Nissan

69,835

62,536

2.2

11.7

13

Toyota

65,939

70,267

2.1

-6.2

14

Mazda

58,216

52,491

1.8

10.9

15

Kia

55,689

53,546

1.7

4

16

Peugeot

54,259

54,096

1.7

0.3

17

Citroen

51,413

52,003

1.6

-1.1

18

Dacia

45,764

48,907

1.4

-6.4

19

Mini

39,714

33,183

1.2

19.7

20

Smart

37,808

22,408

1.2

68.7

21

Volvo

36,120

31,919

1.1

13.2

22

Mitsubishi

34,443

24,131

1.1

42.7

23

Suzuki

30,903

27,835

1

11

24

Porsche

28,543

24,365

0.9

17.1

25

Honda

21,072

22,498

0.7

-6.3

26

LandRover

18,216

14,679

0.6

24.1

27

Jeep

14,819

10,268

0.5

44.3

28

Subaru

6,549

6,218

0.2

5.3

29

Jaguar

4,987

4,229

0.2

17.9

30

Alfa Romeo

2,800

3,391

0.1

-17.4

Top Ten Best-Selling Carmakers in Germany in 2015

The top ten most-popular car brands in Germany in 2015 remained unaltered from the order in 2014. All top-ten brands increased sales but mostly below the market average with brands in the Volkswagen group generally performing the weakest.

Volkswagen remained the best-selling car brand in Germany in 2015, although the brand is likely to suffer from further image damage in 2016 and the possibility that customers will expect discounts. In 2015, VW’s market share remained a solid 21.4% compared to 21.6% a year ago.

Mercedes Benz consolidated second place with a 5.3% increase in sales – just below market average. Third-placed Audi was the weakest performer of the three German luxury carmakers, although fourth-placed BMW hardly performed better.

Opel hung onto fifth place but a resurgent Ford halved the gap to only 5,000 cars.

VW-owned Skoda remained Germany’s favorite imported car brand. Renault ended 2015 with just around 1,600 sales more than Hyundai that was the most improved of the top brands.

VW-owned Seat rounded out the top-ten list with flat sales in Germany in 2015.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Germany in 2015

A few further salient features from the new passenger car registrations data for Germany in 2015:

Toyota was the only top brand with weaker sales – Toyota slipped from eleventh last year to 13th behind Fiat and Nissan.

Smart was the most-improved brand with sales in Germany up 69% in 2015 and reentered the top-20 list from 25 a year ago. Sales of Jeep (+44%) and Mitsubishi (+43%) were also strongly up while Mini (19%) and Porsche (17%) were also much improved.

Toyota remained the strongest Japanese car manufacturer in Germany in 2015 but sales were down 6%. Honda sales suffered similarly but Nissan, Mazda and Suzuki all had double digit growth.

Alfa Romeo (-17%) was the worst performing of the top-30 car brands in Germany. Dacia, Honda, Toyota and Citroen were the only other brands to have sold fewer cars in Germany in 2015 than in 2014.

Only 34.2% of new cars were registered by private buyers – down from 36.2% a year ago.

Silver, which includes the whole spectrum from dull grey to a mirror finish, was the most popular color with a 28.6% market share while 27.3% of new cars in Germany in 2015 left the factory finished in black.